Education system failing First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth say teachers

July 11, 2013
First Nations Idle No More protesters hold hands during a demonstration at the Douglas-Peace Arch crossing near Surrey, B.C. – Photo by Darryl Dyck, Canadian Press
First Nations Idle No More protesters hold hands during a demonstration at the Douglas-Peace Arch crossing near Surrey, B.C. – Photo by Darryl Dyck, Canadian Press

By Graham Lanktree, Metro Ottawa

Our education system has failed  First Nations, Métis, and Inuit  youth, said educators in Ottawa at the Canadian Teachers’ Federation’s annual conference as they puzzled out ways to help get it on track Monday, July 8.

“We follow the curriculum in Quebec, but we tailor it to our needs,” said Valerie Plain, a teacher at the Ottawa Valley’s Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation near Maniwaki, noting her students face challenges not just in content, but funding also.

“Students realize they have a continual struggle with funding requirements that are not equal to those in the provincial school system,” she said.

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